‘Expand and Economize’ vs ‘Redeploy and Devolve’

Conn Carroll / October 01, 2008

As part of their Health Care Watch series, The New York Times Campaign Stops blog invited Heritage vice president for domestic policy Stuart Butler to analyze the presidential candidates health care plans. Butler writes:

Barack Obama’s approach might be called “expand and economize.” Essentially he would add commitments and centralize, and then try to offset costs with new revenue and efficiency improvements. He would widen coverage by launching new programs and expansions of existing ones, plus requirements on many businesses to increase worker coverage or pay a tax. He seeks to pay for most of this in two ways, both of which are problematic, technically as well as politically. And he envisions detailed national requirements and arrangements for benefits and insurance.

Mr. Obama says that part of this can be paid for by “rolling back” some of the Bush tax cuts. But the Congressional Budget Office will remind him that those cuts sunset in 2010, leaving him with a financing problem that might require him to abandon his proposed middle-class tax cuts. The other source of financing is the hope that improved technology and greater efficiency will yield far more savings than can realistically be expected.

John McCain’s approach to the problem might be called “redeploy and devolve.” (more…)